Ten 'vampire' household appliances that are costing you more than £100 extra per year

We might finally be out of the cold weather of winter and the debate of whether or not to turn the heating on long gone, but the hopes of you saving some extra money on bills could be halted without you even realising why.

That’s because sitting casually around the house could be a host of ‘vampire’ appliances costing you over an extra £100 each year.

A team of experts at Quotezone.co.uk listed a whole 10 household appliances that are sucking out energy and draining bank accounts of UK homes. And a big culprit of this is by leaving items on standby.

The experts say that by doing this ‘you are needlessly draining energy and funds’.

“By getting into the habit of switching off all appliances and devices, homeowners could save as much as £103 a year - money which could help combat other surging household bills,” they added.

So, here are the 10 ‘vampire’ appliances:

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TV

It might be tempting to leave the telly on standby just so you don’t have to get up off the sofa every time you sit down to watch.

But apparently the annual standby cost for a TV is £5.70.

Dishwasher

Leaving your dishwater on standby when you’re not using it does almost seem pointless. Plus, it’s got an annual cost of £7.44.

Laptop

Most of us use our laptops every day, be it for work or online shopping or just binging Netflix and while we’re not, we might just flick it on standby.

But the annual cost of doing so is about £10.41.

Washing machine

Leaving your washing machine on standby isn’t massively expensive, but an entire year of it can add up to £6.45.

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Computer

With plenty of us working from home nowadays, you might opt to use a desktop which will probably be upping your monthly electricity bill.

And if you’re leaving it on standby all year that will add on another £13.39.

Games consoles

Let alone the costs of running your console, leaving it on standby for the year can cost you a whopping extra of £27.52.

Smart speakers

When left on standby, smart speakers consume roughly 3W an hour. And if you’re leaving it on when you’re not blasting out bops, it can cost £7.44 extra a year.

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Microwave

Plenty of us are guilty of this one – leaving the microwave on all day long even if we only use it for a minute to heat something up. And if you are leaving it on standby it can add on an extra £5.95 a year.

Tumble dryer

It’s no secret these things can cost a lot to run each cycle and when left on standby, they can add an unnecessary extra £6.45 a year.

Phone charger

Thankfully, this one’s pretty cheap. If you’re leaving your chargers plugged in even if your phones not on charge, it can add an extra 64p a year.

Topics: Cost of Living, Money

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_